Shen ng handed the child over to Shen Shoutian and went to the office herself to pay the tuition and collect the new books. The process went smoothly; she simply gave her na and the teacher took care of everything else. She experienced the convenience of pulling strings through connections.
Lu Mingyang had never been to school before. He usually earned work points in the fields with his younger siblings, mostly interacting with Daqing and Erqing. Now seeing so many children, he felt incessantly uneasy and didn’t know how to interact with other kids. He stood at the door with a stern expression.
When Shen ng arrived, she saw her eldest son standing obediently at the entrance of the classroom, while her second son was already chatting with several little girls, looking quite playful.
"Mom!" Lu Mingfang hurriedly greeted Shen ng as she ca out of the office.
"Ah, Mingyang, co here, you and Ming Liang and Ming Fang have all been registered. Here are your textbooks, from now on you’ll be first-grade students. Ming Fang, mom wants to say a few words to you. If soone bullies you at school, find your brothers. Don’t keep quiet. Also, mom has a task for you, make sure to supervise your brothers in their studies, okay? Tuition is expensive, so they have to be diligent."
Lu Mingfang stood straight and nodded vigorously in agreent.
"Mom, I will definitely supervise them well. If anyone does not study properly, I’ll report to you at ho, and I can fight myself, I won’t let anyone bully ."
"Good child, Mingyang, Ming Liang, I am telling you, protect your sister well at school. We do not start trouble, but we are not afraid of trouble. If you are wronged and can’t solve it, co ho and tell mom. Mom will take care of it for you. Don’t be afraid of anything. Okay, mom still needs to go ho and help your uncle clean up the straw in the reserved land, do you know the way back ho from school?"
"We know it, Daqing said his mom is also registering Erqing for school. They haven’t co yet. Also, there are several other people from our village going to school. We can all go ho together, mom, don’t worry."
Shen ng straightened up, looked around, and noticed that Wang Lianhua was not present yet, she frowned,
"Maybe she’ll be late. You kids go to the classroom first, we are heading back now. Mom will make you sothing delicious tonight."
Lu Mingyang waved at Shen ng, "Don’t worry, mom!"
Watching them enter the classroom and settle down in their seats, smiling cheekily at her, Shen ng felt reassured and went back ho with Lu Mingkai.
Shen ng took Lu Mingkai ho first, letting the child play in the courtyard while she checked if there was still hot water in the kettle on the big table, and then topped it up.
She took out pig’s trotters and at that were stored in the space and pretended to soak them in a water tank.
Looking at the sowhat lonely little figure, she asked, "What’s wrong, Xiao Kai?"
Lu Mingkai pouted and glanced at her.
"Xiao Kai is a bit sad, mom. It hurts here," the little guy covered his chest, scampering towards her, his deanor really softened Shen ng’s heart.
"Oh dear, my sweetie, it hurts here?"
Shen ng knew it was because his siblings had gone to school, and he was not used to it yet,
"It’s okay, your mom is here. In a while, your elder uncle will co, and we’ll go to the reserved land. After collecting the straw, what vegetables does Xiao Kai want us to plant more of? Oh, and should mom take you to see Xiao Gang? You can play with your brother and help mom keep an eye on your third aunt, alright?"
The little guy seed to have been given a significant task, his little face turned serious for a mont, and he vigorously nodded his head.
"Okay, mom will take you to your third aunt’s now, and get you two shortbreads. You can share one with your brother, alright?"
"Alright."
With a crisp and emphatic lilt in his voice, Shen ng felt a warm fuzziness inside, this child was getting chubbier and softer, and she couldn’t resist going up to him and "smack smack" planting several kisses.
Xie Jinghao was sewing on the kang bed, watching Xiao Gang, who looked dejected, lying on the quilt, and could not help but laugh. Last night, Xiao Gang was still thinking about his elder aunt’s pig’s trotter soup, and only after asking his mother did he find out that his elder aunt had gone to visit relatives. The little guy had been muttering about pig’s trotter soup in his dreams.
"Alright, alright, your elder aunt ntioned she’ll be back today, right? No need to rush!"
"Mom, I’m hungry. The pig’s trotter soup slls so good."
Xie Jinghao chuckled and shook her head, "Silly boy, you’ve beco quite picky eating with your elder aunt lately, always thinking about delicious food now."
"Jinghao, is Jinghao there?"
Before Xie Jinghao could move, Xiao Gang suddenly sprang up from the bed and jumped several tis on it.
"Elder aunt is here, elder aunt is here, hehehe, elder aunt is here..."
"What’s gotten into you, so excited to see elder aunt, Xiao Gang?"
When Shen ng walked in carrying Lu Mingkai, she could clearly feel Xiao Gang’s excitent increase.
"Elder sister-in-law is back, he’s been missing your cooking, begged to take him to your place yesterday, but the doors were locked, and he even pouted."
Shen ng took off Lu Mingkai’s shoes, reached out to pick up Xiao Gang and weighed him in her arms,
"Elder aunt will make sothing delicious for Xiao Gang tonight. Your little brother brought you so shortbread, Xiao Gang can have it first. Jinghao, my elder brother is here. He’ll be tidying up the straw from the private plot later, we’ll leave Ming Kai here with you. I’ll co to pick him up after I’ve cooked lunch!"
"Alright, elder sister-in-law, go ahead. After cleaning up, do you need my elder brother to take the straw to Shenji?"
Shen ng kissed Xiao Gang’s forehead and nodded at Xie Jinghao.
"Elder sister-in-law, you better hurry then. I heard mom and his second uncle discussing taking the straw back ho. They said since they grew the crops, they should keep the straw. You better be early, get it cleaned up and hauled away today since they’ve all gone to work."
Shen ng pursed her lips, ugly but with wishful thinking.
"I’ll get going then. You’re pregnant, take a break from needlework to rest your eyes."
"Alright!"
When Shen ng got ho, Shen Shoutian was already waiting at the doorstep. They didn’t enter the house but went directly to the private plot. Five parts of private land were quite large indeed, and it was impossible for just the two of them to finish in one day.
"Elder brother, you go ahead, I’ll find a couple of people to help so we can finish as early as possible."
"No need, I can manage alone. Getting help ans owing favors, which have to be repaid."
The task might take these two until tomorrow, but she wanted it done by this morning, ideally hauling it away by noon, which would absolutely infuriate Lu Jiahe.
She had long realized that this jackass always had to oppose her.
Coincidentally, just as Shen ng reached the main road, she saw Uncle Guai driving a ox cart, free from work today after having dropped soone off in the morning.
Sleep beckons, and here cos the pillow, thought Shen ng as she promptly invited him into her own private land. As she was about to look for a second person, she ran into Wang Lianhua returning from enrolling Erqing in school.
Isn’t this a fortunate coincidence? Shen ng joyfully went to invite people. This was her network of connections!
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